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Friday, May 21, 2010

One of the best things about spring is the abundance of fresh fruit - its everywhere, its cheap and its oh so flavorful. Sure you can find bananas and grapes in the winter, but berries are harder to come by and they definitely don't taste as good. When I saw the fresh blackberries in the grocery store, I had to buy them. They were so good we ate about half of them just plain. The rest I baked up into a delicious blackberry crisp.

Fruit crisps are one of the easiest desserts to make, especially when you have naturally sweet fresh fruit. A quick crumble topping takes only a few minutes to make and a few ingredients. Flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and butter are really all you need. I made these in individual tart pans (which really weren't the best idea, ramekins would work much better since the tart pans have a removable bottom) but you could also bake it up all in one pan. An 8x8 baking dish would work great.

Top these with vanilla ice cream while they are still warm and you have one of the most delicious desserts you can make in under an hour. Whipped cream would be good on top too.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place berries in baking pan(s). Sprinkle berries with sugar. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch and stir until smooth. Pour over berries and toss together gently. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter using a pastry blender, forks or your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. Top berries evenly with crumble mixture. Bake about 20-25 minutes until bubbly and topping is lightly browned. Cool about 15 minutes and top with vanilla ice cream or as desired.